- Contributed Trans-Continental Travel Agency at Southdale Plaza, St. Andrew, is working with an innovative computer reservation system called World Span.
Donna Ortega, News Editor
TRAVEL AGENCIES recently protested against the reduction in the commission paid to them by airlines, arguing that the drop from nine to six per cent would jeopardise their future.
But at least one agent has found a way to battle on and to remain on even keel nonetheless.
According to Aubrey Yee Sang, managing director of Trans-Continental Travel Agency at Southdale Plaza, St. Andrew, the balance is "razor thin."
"So you have to be 'super-efficient'. There's no other way," he said.
Personalised service would continue to distinguish the travel agent who aims to succeed in the highly competitive market. But there are other elements which count as well.
"I saw it coming," Mr. Yee Sang said of the cut in commission announced by American Airlines, followed by Air Jamaica.
Airlines are trying to cut costs like anyone else, he reasoned. So his response was to cut his own costs from as far back as 1996: "We got super-efficient."
With seven other members of staff, apart from his wife, Diana, and himself, with the help, on a part-time basis, of his daughter Francine, he was able to retain the business as a family operation.
"We run a very tight ship in terms of accountability and service," Mr. Yee Sang maintained.
Reservations
Trans-Continental recently invested in a completely new computer system called World Span which Mr. Yee Sang described as "the most sophisticated computer reservations system in the world."
The system has dual advantages for cost efficiency - for management and for the client. It is tied in to the Internet at a flat fee, enabling the travel agent to surf the Net for 24 hours to search for the ideal services for clients. "It saves time and time is money," Mr. Yee Sang said.
With regard to the fare structure, the system enables the provision of better fares. All the system providers are basically the same going into North America but with longhaul travel into Europe for example, the World Span system provides better fares overall, he said. "It suits you when you have complex fares (travelling to several points) to go through a travel agency, versus point to point fares (from one destination to another). The computer is very important combined with the expertise of the agent," he observed.
Customers will always go for a combination of cheaper fares and service and for travel agents there will always be a niche market. "But you have to live on a tighter budget," Mr. Yee Sang said.
Most local travel agents opted for imposing a service charge to recoup some of their losses from the drop in airline commission. What of Trans-Continental?
The service charge is applied only to assisting customers with renewing their passports and visas - not to airline tickets - since providing that service is a cost to the agency. Thus there is a nominal charge of $400 each for facilitating the process of passport and visa renewal.
How does Trans-Continental Travel survive the new commission structure?
"You work twice as hard. You take on much of the work to be done yourself. You just have to work. The name of the game is production," Mr. Yee Sang stressed.
This is the key, he said, to maximise savings.
However, he has not reduced the commission to the travel consultants on staff despite the adjusted airline commission.
According to Mr. Yee Sang, he values close team work and this is exemplified among his staff. Staff members - two of whom have been employed with the Yee Sangs for the past 12 years - are involved in most decision-making at the agency.
Trans-Continental serves thousands of customers who come from every strata and a strong relationship has been retained with them for the 16 years that the agency has been in business. Mrs. Yee Sang is a professional of 35-years standing in the sector while her husband has been in the business for the past 20 years.
"We have to go for volume to close the gap, with no service charge, rather than ask the client to subsidise the shortfall," Mr. Yee Sang argued.
"The airline industry is one of the most competitive in the world so I must be able to offer you something that others are not, and that is cheaper fares.
"My theme is, 'My clients are my employers' and the key to success is management," he said.
